The Kite Runner – Khaled Housseini

What a great discussion we had on The Kite Runner, by Khaled Housseini. I think this is the first time that I recall where all of us liked the book! Some of us had read it for the second time and found it every bit as good. I was one of those – I think the first time I read it was about twelve years ago. Reading it for the second time was a treat for me. I found myself focused more on some of the characters this time around rather than the events happening in the book. The book starts out in Afghanistan and the recent power grab of the Taliban. The horror of 9/11 still seemed very fresh to me when I read it the first time and I think my perspective may have been clouded because of that, although I still liked the book.

It is the story of a father and son and the secrets they keep. It explores the cultural divides in a country steeped in history and protocol, with stories rooted in the past. We get to know people who emigrated from a war-torn country in hopes of a better life, some struggling to find their way and others thriving in the new-found freedoms that come with new places. Amir narrates the story throughout and it is through his voice and his eyes that we get glimpses of the cultural divides between Pashtuns and Hazaras.

Amir is a Pashtun and his childhood friend is Hassan, a Hazara and his servant. Although it is clear they are close and like each other, Amir will not acknowledge Hassan as a friend and after Hassan is raped by Assef, another Pashtun with a German mother, Amir is filled with guilt that he did not step up to help his friend and he keeps his secret from everyone. This guilt stays with him all his life. Frankly, Amir is not a very likable character, even though he is a child. He gets a chance at redemption later in the book and even then, his initial motives are based on self-pity. That he comes around and is willing to sacrifice himself for Hassan’s son Sohrab is redeemable, although you could argue who he was willing to do it for – Sohrab or himself.

Amir’s father Baba is not a very religious man but he is a creature of the times and the secret he keeps from Amir (and everyone else, it seems) creates self-erected barriers between father and son. The novel follows Amir and Baba to America and after Amir gets married and Baba dies, it eventually finds its way back to the place it started, Afghanistan, the Taliban and the haunted past.

If you haven’t read the book, you really should. Khaled Housseini has written a few more books, one of which is A Thousand Splendid Suns and features women as the main characters. I have not read it but it’s been recommended as an excellent book, so it’s on my reading list.